"The pictures that we see from Baghdad are impressive. It seems this is a moment that Iraqis and the rest of the world have awaited for too long," he said, quoted by the Dutch news agency ANP.

"I hope this marks the end of suffering for the victims even if one can not exclude further incidents," he added.

Exiled Iraqis in the Netherlands -- who number some 40,000 -- joyously welcomed an end to Saddam's 24 years in power.

"Our nightmare is over, this is a renaissance for Iraqis," Salah Abdel Razaq, a member of an Iraqi association told ANP.

"This is the best day in my life, a beautiful day in the history of the world," said Shlimo Haddad of the Dutch Assyrian Society, hoping he would soon be able to return to his home country after 33 years in exile.

SPACE.WIRE